Reply #93: I don't doubt she was behaving badly and deserved to be detained. [View All]

[tblue37]

But I feel pretty certain that she was accidentally killed by the cops while they were overzealous in restraining her.

My point was that usually the cops are a lot more intensely brutal with minorities than with whites, so I was guessing that she was not white.

I think the person who responded with the "first they came for" remark is right on. I think the current atmosphere in this country is such that cops and other security types are very thuggish in how they interact with people, no matter what race they are. But, as in the case of the black man who was pulled over and tasered for going 5 miles over the speed limit, the odds are still better that a minority will be abused, and in this case that a mirnority would be accidentally killed by rough handling than a well-dressed white woman would be. This woman was highly educated and well-connected. Such people are usually not as likely as minority members to be subjected to the full force of police violence.

I also wonder whether her insistent bad behavior might have been caused by who she was. She was well educated, well off, and well connected. She also was not from this country originally (she was from South Africa). She might have been used to getting her way by making a fuss whenever she was hindered.

I am now afraid of cops. I am a 57-year-old white woman, and in the past I would never have thought of being afraid of cops. But now they really do seem to rough people up at the drop of a hat. I have cardiac arrhythmia. If I were tasered for some reason, I would probably go into cardiac arrest.

Why might I be tasered? Well, I am so severely hearing impaired that even with my hearing aids in, I can't always tell when I am being spoken to, and I usually don't wear my aids when I am out and about. There are a number of cases on record where cops have brutalized--including tasering--elderly women for being unresponsive to commands. One man was tasered while slumped over his car in a diabetic coma, because he didn't get out when the cop ordered him to. He died of cardiac arrest.

If some cop ever orders me to do something and I don't immediately respond because of my deafness, he might well taser me. They tase for the most bizarre reasons, and without regard for whom they are tasering. And if that were ever to happen, I am pretty sure it would kill me.

To serve and protect my ass.